The email couldn't have come at a better time. The client had moved their deadline up, so the firm was making Lily and her team working later to get their new logo out. Two sixty-hour weeks were starting to show in her face, her eyes sunken and slightly darker, as well as her blonde hair, which had lost its healthy sheen and showed signs of frizz. Though she loved her job, it was the routine crunch before the end of their projects that was its most tiresome aspect. Her usual habits of listening to ASMR videos at her desk were progressively becoming less effective as well. But earlier that day, the message popped up in her inbox, giving her something to look forward to after work.

She could already tell who it was from, the ASCII hearts and stars in the subject line being a dead giveaway. "Thank you again sooooo much for the new logo and animation for my channel!", the body read. "I know it's been a couple weeks but I'm going to start using it on my next video. Even better news, I finally got around to that private video I promised you. A deal's a deal, after all ;)". A hyperlink was below, hanging tantalizingly in Lily's view. As much as she wanted to watch it now, she knew it'd be very odd for her co-workers to see her zoned out to some YouTube video.

Her last three hours seemed to zoom by after that, having been buoyed by the promise of a relaxing evening before her day off. At 6PM she left work, treated herself to dinner at her favorite Thai place, and arrived at her apartment just as the sun had finished setting. She pulled out her laptop and proceeded to get comfy, laying down on her sofa as she opened the email. Clicking the private link within, she was greeted with a new tab that started playing her digital reward.

She felt a swell of pride as she saw her animation play as the video's intro. Despite her hours of work causing to make her sick of it, she found new excitement in seeing it used for its intended purpose. The video then crossfaded to reveal a young Belgian woman with a brown pixie cut. She was sitting cross-legged in front of a white plaster wall, her 3D microphone standing in front of her on the hardwood floor. She was smiling, and waving a bit.

"Hey Lily! It's your friend Julia", she whispered into the mic. Lily instantly recognized her French-tinged accent as she spoke. "I want to thank you so much for helping me with my channel. I hope this special video for you is adequate. As you requested, this is a hypnosis video, but this one is especially made for you. I wanted to give you a special treat, so I'm going to be trying out some new triggers I've been playing around with".

Not that Lily wasn't engaged before, but this new wrinkle piqued her interest even more. Looking to her right, she found her earbuds on the glass coffee table and proceeded to plug them into her laptop. Placing them in her ears, she had a good feeling about this video.

"I know you must be excited", Julia continued, "so let's get to it. The thing you get to be my little test bunny for is..." She leaned to the left, grabbing something just out of frame, and then centering herself again, plastic bag in hand.

"Balloons". She let the "b" sound almost pop off of her lips, and followed it by crinkling the bag to emphasize it. Tingles poured down Lily's scalp and onto the back of her head. She felt blissful already.

"So, Lily dearest, get comfy, and make sure your headphones are in, because I really want to test how effective this is". She daintily reached one hand into the bag, rummaged around for a couple of seconds, and pulled an uninflated balloon out. "Ooooh, blue. My favorite".

Lily had pulled the coffee table closer to the couch, and placed her laptop on it. With a couple of adjustments, she was able to position it so that she could see it while laying on her back on the couch, her head propped up by a pillow. Now focused on the fullscreened video, the glow seemed to extend out of the screen, erasing the blackness of her living room from her vision.

Julia set the bag down, then pinched the balloon on either end with the thumb and middle finger of each of her hands. Pulling it slowly apart, the sounds of rubber friction were picked up by the microphone, prompting further tingling from Lily.

"Now, I want you to close your eyes", Julia started, to which Lily complied. "Picture your mind as a pond, situated in the middle of the darkest, most peaceful night sky, stretching out, as far as the eye can see". Julia subtly laced her words with gently smacking sounds of her lips parting, whispering very intently from one "ear" of her 3D mic to the other. "On this pond you see a great number of ripples disturbing its surface. These are your thoughts. In our day to day life, we have many thoughts, some larger than others, some staying with us for a while, most of them fleeting. I'm sure you see many ripples right now, but for now, we want to make the pond placid".

Julia closed her eyes in the video, transferring the balloon into her right hand. The fingers started to rub the balloon into her palm, creating a steady tempo of creaking noises that Lily found pleasureable. After a good ten seconds, she spoke again.

"Now, I'm going to count down from twenty, and on every number I want you to exhale. With each breath you send out, I want you to picture a calming wave on the surface of the pond, radiating outward, subduing all the ripples. By the time we reach one, the surface will be perfectly still. Ready?"

A short pause. Lily could hear Julia inhale, punctuated by her drawn-out rubs of the balloon. As she breathed out "Twenty", another squeak accompanied her exhale.

Inhale, squeeeeak. "Nineteen", squeeeeak.

Inhale, squeeeeak. "Eighteen", squeeeeak.

Inhale, squeeeeak. "Seventeen", squeeeeak.

By this point, Lily felt as if Julia was conducting her breath, leading her lungs a fraction of a second ahead of her. The subtle noises of her surrounding apartment fell away, as she focused on the respiration of her guide, the intermittent rubber of the balloon underscoring it.

"Twelve", squeeeak.

Sensation seemed to fade into the background, the couch no longer pressing on her body, the temperature of her apartment becoming irrelevant.

"Eight", squeeeeak. After this, Julia stopped counting, leaving only her breathing and the balloon to subdue Lily. Lily herself carried on as before, letting the count fade away like her thoughts. Time stretched out, only marked in passage by the noises being transmitted to her through her earbuds. After a small infinity, Julia's breathing stopped, as did the balloon's contributions.

Using the gentlest of whispers, she continued. "The pond is now perfectly still, stretching out as far as anyone can see. Now, there's another reason why I picked balloons for you. Over the course of getting to know you, I sensed that your aura wished to be free, but that it seemed held down by earthly worries. I was reminded of when I was a little girl, being amazed by these bunches of balloons, gently swaying with the wind, letting them go wherever they were swept to. I saw how their strings tethered them, preventing them from realzing their... balloony nature". Julia giggled a bit.

"So, on this pond, I want you to picture an uninflated balloon, resting on the surface. This balloon is you, and today we are going to let it do what it desires to do: float away and be free".

Julia opened her eyes, seeming like she could stare through the screen into Lily's living room.

"Now, in your mind, I want you to tie the stem of the balloon, allowing it to be free of outside influences". Julia started tying the one in her hand, letting the noises cement the image in Lily's imagination. She started breathing deeply into the microphone again, again causing Lily's lungs to be puppeted.

"With each breath...", inhale.

"With each lungful...", inhale.

"You see your balloon...", inhale.

"Start to stir...", inhale.

Lily's trance had been effective in making her ignore tactile sensations, so she couldn't notice the beginnings of a stirring in her breasts. As she pictured the balloon in her mind start to firm up and take shape, her nipples started to erect, pressing into her sweatshirt. The balloon in Julia's hand started showing signs of movement as well. Pinching it by the stem, she held it up to the mic, allowing its rubber rustling to reinforce her imagery.

"With each breath...", inhale, squeak.

"You feel the balloon...", inhale, squeak.

"You feel yourself...", inhale, squeak.

"Filling with calm...", inhale, squeak.

Lily's breasts started getting rounder, trying to push their way out of the fabric that encased them. Her pelvis seemed to start raising up as well, as the cloth of her yoga pants tightened. Her hands, which had been resting on her stomach with fingers interlaced, appeared to be pushing apart as well. In the video, the balloon Julia was pinching continued to slowly pulse, pumping with each breath to the size of an apple. As it grew larger, the air entering it started to become audible.

"With each breath...", inhale, squeak, hiss.

"You relax your body more...", inhale, squeak, hiss.

"Allowing yourself...", inhale, squeak, hiss.

"To be expanded...", inhale, squeak, hiss.

Lily's stomach had grown larger, causing her hands to fall down to her sides. Her thighs had started to push against each other, forcing them to move outward. Her hips had moved upward as well, balanced perfectly on her ripening backside. Had she had her eyes open, her breasts would have eclipsed the view of the rest of her body, though her prominent nipples were visible through the fabric. Had she been awake, she may also have noticed a hissing noise emitting from her body as well.

The computer screen showed Julia gently holding the balloon between her hands now, as it had grown to the size of a small melon. While keeping her breathing at a steady and audible level, she started to rub the balloon with her fingers, creating delicious creaking noises to keep Lily under. Occasionally she'd look at the object in her hands admiringly, then closing her eyes and kissing it next to the mic, all while maintaining a loving smile on her face.

A crevice of sweatshirt fabric that had been forming between Lily's belly and breasts was now being pulled taught by their swelling outward. Its hem had started moving up her body as well, exposing the underside of her soft, hemispherical tummy. Her sides had started puffing up, trying to navigate around her core to get to her spine. Her butt and thighs continued their progress as well, pulling down the waist of her pants as that part of her was made increasingly heart-shaped. Her core started to be lifted up, her back having joined in her yearning to fly away.

Her sides had puffed up large enough to push her arms away; her right one was moved off the side of the couch, left to dangle above the coffee table in its half-swollen state. Her left one had been squeezed upward along the back of the couch by her bulbous torso, causing it to be hoisted to an angle jutting ever-upward. Her arms had been receiving air from her shoulders and collar, which had started to encroach upon her neck. Her head started to lift up from the pillow, as the disparate swollen parts of her began to unify.

Her breathing was still being driven by Julia's. The balloon in her hand was nearly at its full size now, starting to show signs of buoyancy. Julia moved it to the frame's center and wrapped her arms around it, causing the balloon to emit a low creak. She slowly kissed its skin several times while looking through the screen, making sure the sounds were clearly heard by the mic. She then gazed back at the balloon, and spoke:

"You're so relaxed now, Lily. It looks like you're almost ready to leave the ground." This was true, as her body had started to absorb her limbs, gaining up to her knees and elbows. Her oblique had pushed against the back of the couch, causing her to be tilted to the right by her increasingly round form. Her breasts had started to join with the curve of her body, which extended from a couple inches below her chin, to her outwardly expanding crotch.

"Are you ready Lily? Ready to leave your earthly concerns behind? Ready to ascend, and join the clouds in their bliss? I can feel your desire to, my little balloon. And so, I'm going to count down from five, and as I do, you will picture the balloon in your mind approaching its maximum size. When I reach one, you will see it take off from the ground, and I will release you to fly away, my balloon-girl. Ready?"

Julia took a deep breath in, and set the turgid balloon in her upturned hands in front of her.

"Five." As she said this, Julia pursed her lips and blew onto the balloon, which somehow swelled in response to it. Lily's body responded in kind, causing her greatly-taxed clothes to creak with stress. A couple of stitches along the backside of her yoga pants popped.

Julia inhaled. "Four", blow, hiss, creak, pop. Another stitch had gone along the left leg. Lily's skin had almost reached her wrists and ankles, and was starting to touch her chin and the back of her head.

Inhale, "Three", blow, hiss, creak, pop, pop. Two more on the right. The bubble of Lily's form now stretched midway to her hands and feet, immobilizing them.

Inhale, "Two", blow, hiss, creak, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Her body's pulsing outward pushed her up from the couch, where she hung in the air.

Inhale.

"One."

Just as soon as she had touched back down to the cushions, she swelled again, and started rising. A newfound wave of tingling and luxurious contentment washed over her as she ascended. Her earbud cord was pulled taught, though, keeping her head several feet above her computer as the rest of her body rose, rotating around this tether point.

Julia had let go of her balloon, which had slowly risen past the top of the frame. Looking up admiringly at it for a moment, she then leaned into the mic and looked at the camera.

"You make a beautiful balloon, Lily", she said, smiling. "Thank you again for everything. I'll see you soon." She then waved, and the video ended, leaving a dull grey color on the computer screen. After a couple minutes, the earbuds slipped out of Lily's ears, freeing her to bounce off the ceiling of her living room, and Lily's hypnotic state gave way to her entering sleep. After a while, her laptop slept, too.

Author's Note:

There are a lot of cute girls who do ASMR videos, so this was bound to happen eventually.

As usual, I'm open to critique. This one was tougher, since I finished it after taking a break for several weeks. I feel like the ending's a bit rushed.

This is a damned fine story, certainly one of the best new stories I've read in at least a couple of years. I must admit that I would've liked the ending to be a bit longer, but you gotta leave them wanting more, right?

I did (after reading this one), and it's very good also. However, without diminishing the quality of "As a Kite", it's easy to write a story where characters inflate and have orgasms. It's much harder to show some restraint in that area because it means other aspects of the story have to be stronger than they might otherwise need to be. Plus, this one managed to be much more intimate despite the lack of sexual arousal (none is explicitly stated, at least) and the fact that the characters involved aren't actually interacting with each other. The story also does a good job of capturing the appeal of ASMR without getting bogged down in the minutae of educating the reader about what it is.

Checking all of those boxes is not particularly easy to pull off. Writers who can do that tend to be fairly unique talents in this genre.